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When Juventus and Real Madrid take to the pitch on June 3rd, it will pit two teams who are almost total contrasts against each other. Juventus have arguably the best defence in world football; they’ve conceded just 35 goals in 51 matches this season, and only 3 of those have come in the Champions League. In contrast, Real Madrid has scored 196 goals over the course of the season in all competitions.

In the team’s previous meeting, Juventus won 3-2 over two legs in the semi-finals of the 2015 Champions League. Ronaldo scored both goals for Madrid, while Alvaro Morata scored two as well, including the game winner.

Juve went on to lose that 2015 final to Barcelona, but a lot has changed for them since then. Of the starting 11 that game, six of them are no longer at the club — and of the five of those started, I would say that Leonardo Bonucci and of course Gianluigi Buffon are the two “locks” to start the final.

This is Juve’s likely lineup to start the game. Considering they have one league game left on the 27th and it means absolutely nothing, I’m fairly certain everyone will be fully fit come June 3rd. After some early season lineup tinkering, manager Max Allegri has pretty much settled for this being his strongest eleven, especially in the Champions League where he has used some sort of variant of this formation in five of their six knockout games.

The biggest challenge for Juventus will be to try and stop Cristiano Ronaldo. You can easily make the case that he’s the most prolific goal scorer in Europe right now. In the semi-final against Atletico Madrid, Ronaldo was used more as an out-and-out striker rather than as his traditional position on the wing. He’s incredibly lethal in front of goal — as evidenced by his hat-trick in the first leg — but may have his opportunities limited going up against the combination of Bonucci and Chiellini.

The biggest question mark surrounding Real Madrid’s starting lineup is the health of Gareth Bale. The winger has been out since the El Clasico against Barcelona on April 23rd, and hasn’t featured since. If he does come back into the lineup, look for Madrid to switch to a 4-3-3 with Isco being taken out.

However, if I was Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane, I would be very hesitant in doing that. Isco was arguably their best player in the second leg of the semi-final, scoring their only goal and setting up numerous other chances. To replace that with a rusty, perhaps not 100% fit Gareth Bale would be a mistake in my eyes.

In terms of the game, Juventus will have to be wary of the Real Madrid counter — they’re more lethal on the counter than when they’re trying to break down a defence. Unfortunately for Madrid, Juve is very comfortable sitting back and absorbing pressure, as evidenced by their scoreless draw against Barcelona back in April. I think Madrid are good for one goal, but that’s about it. And if Juve score first, they may get none at all.

If I was a betting man (which I totally am) I would put my money on a 1-1 draw that goes to penalties, in which Juventus will prevail. It should be a great game.

Barring some monumental upsets in the conference finals, the NBA finals will once again be between the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers. It will be the third straight year that they meet in the final, and there’s a real possibility that both teams could go undefeated before they meet in the final.

There’s been a lot of discussions online about how this is bad for the NBA and its product. The main argument is that it’s ruining the league’s product and destroying the so-called “parity” of the league.

Charles Barkley just now: "Thank God for the NHL playoffs. That's what I would be watching instead of some of these blowouts." Preach!

First of all, the notion that the NBA had the parity problem figured out before this is laughable. Between 1996 and 2014, a total of 7 different teams won the NBA championships — the Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio Spurs won 10 of those. In fact, of those seven teams, four of them won multiple titles. The NBA for its recent history has been a league constructed of a few “have’s” and a whole lot of “have not’s.”

As well, too much parity can make a league uninteresting and boring, especially to the casual fan. It’s arguably my biggest problem with the MLS. The strict salary cap system the league has in place has created a system where it’s a total crapshoot year to year where teams will finish and who will actually win the league.

Check out the standings right now. The team that was 2nd in the Western Conference in 2016 (Colorado) is last in the Western Conference right now. The team that was last in 2016 (Houston) is currently in first. Columbus, who were 9th in the Eastern Conference last year, are in 2nd in the East currently.

There’s so much fluctuation season to season that you might as well predict who will win the MLS Cup by throwing a dart and seeing which team it lands on. It’s a great example of if the parity concept is taken to the extreme and waters down the product.

Perhaps we’re seeing a change with the emergence of Toronto FC becoming a sort of “super team” for the MLS (if they can sustain their success for a few years). But every league needs those strong teams that a casual fan can latch on to and tune in if they feel like it — and hate on.

Parity is good and all, but at the end of the day what is best for the NBA and the product itself is that the best teams meet up for a chance to win the championship. The NBA arguably does this better than any other league, and a Warriors/Cavs NBA Final Round 3 will arguably be one of the most anticipated finals in recent memory. It’s not bad for the product at all — it can only make it stronger.

This is my first foray into writing for my own personal website and to be honest, I can’t say for sure what this site will be about. There will definitely be posts about sports, but I’ll also try to write about my thoughts about music and some humour writing which I’ve gotten myself into recently.